World of tennis: Nadal’s camp insist he will be ready for Montreal

Taken as a whole, this will not go down as an exceptional Wimbledon and one contributory factor to that was the unfortunate absence of defending champion Rafael Nadal.

However, it seems that some of the wilder rumours about his future are wide of the mark and, as his spokesman Benito Perez Barbadillo tells me, causing some annoyance to the Nadal camp.

The Mallorcan is currently doing pure fitness work while having treatment on the tendinitis in his knee and is expected to be back on the practice court within the nextfew weeks.

Returning: Rafael Nadal is working hard to get fit and could be back next month

Perez Barbadillo said yesterday: ‘The plan is still very much that
he plays in the Montreal Masters beginning on August 10. He is entered
into it and that is what will happen if things go as we think they will.

‘There seem to be experts giving opinions about Rafa’s knee from a
long distance when they have no details and have no knowledge of his
condition. He has his own specialists and they are the only ones who
are qualified to give proper opinions. It is disrespectful to Rafa and
his doctors for those who have not examined him to be saying how he is.’

Could there be any chance of a return sooner? ‘You never know with this guy,’ he replied.

One of the strange things about Wimbledon
is the enormous full stop that follows it. In this country professional
tennis topples off a cliff as of today. For anyone suffering withdrawal
symptoms the only place to head is Felixstowe, where there are Futures
events for men and women.

There are a couple of similar tournaments
afterwards and then County Week. As far as many top players are
concerned, such as Andy Murray, we now head into an unofficial mini
off-season after the exertions of the main clay and grass seasons.

There are lower grade ATP and WTA tour
events in Europe and the United States, but some of the men will not
re-emerge until Canada in August. For some of the bigger names you
might call this the half-term holiday.

Andy Murray has apparently donated the Fred Perry kit used this year to Wimbledon’s museum, further suggesting that by this time in 12 months he will be kitted out by a larger company on a multiyear, megabucks deal.

Determined though he will be to get back on the practice courts, the best thing Murray could do now is completely relax.

One of the things he will need to contemplate when he gets his tennis head back on is whether he wants to play in the Davis Cup tie against Poland in Liverpool following the US Open. His handlers at 19 would like him to, but expect some ‘will he, won’t he?’ speculation nearer the time.

Incidentally, he and his management did an admirable job with his PR around Wimbledon time, but here is a handy hint for the boy that will barely cost him a thing and endear him even more: why not use a razor more often? Available at all good chemists and corner shops for about 35p each.

Murraymania and the Wimbledon fortnight
is to be replaced this week by Ashes fever, and one of the Australians
you will soon become familiar with is left-arm fast bowler Mitchell
Johnson. A little-known fact about him is that he once had ambitions to
be a tennis player and was good enough to have been Queensland junior
champion.

So farewell, then, to Wimbledon’s old Courts Two and Three, which
are getting bulldozed this winter. Maybe it is the fact that this was
the first year of the roof, but it seems that the pace of change at
Wimbledon is accelerating. The quirky ‘Graveyard of the Seeds’ is
deemed to be too tired and it will be replaced by a new arena, no doubt
deeply functional and lacking in idiosyncrasies.

The best aspect of the old Graveyard was the easy-access terraced
standing area at the top, although such things now are apparently a
target for the health and safety bores. Am I the only one to wonder why
such a dim view is taken of these atmosphere-generating terraces while
there seems no problem with allowing thousands to cram on to Henman
Hill in the dark, as on Monday night?

Brit of the week (an Andy Murray-free zone)...

Jamie Murray probably has to be the winner on the technicality of reaching the mixed doubles semi-finals.

Let’s be clear that this has been a dismal five-week grass-court
season for the Brits. Surely there must be someone out there with the
talent and temperament not to be satisfied with just one win per
grass-court tournament, which often looked to be the case.

Hopefully better results will now be achieved when everyone is looking the other way.

Bet of the week ...

One company was talking of building a shrine to Andy Roddick for saving them a huge
payout on a British winner. Andy Murray is 5-2 to win Wimbledon 2010 and an all-Williams final is 3-1.